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Soviet-era spacecraft Kosmos 482 expected to make uncontrolled reentry to Earth around May 10, 2025.

About Kosmos 482

A Soviet-era spacecraft known as Kosmos 482, launched in 1972 as part of the USSR's Venera programme, is expected to make an uncontrolled reentry to Earth around May 10, 2025.

This spacecraft, originally designed to land on Venus, has been orbiting Earth for over 50 years following a rocket malfunction that prevented it from reaching its intended destination.

Space debris experts are monitoring its collapse, though the exact reentry location remains unpredictable.

About Venera Programme

It was an ambitious series of Soviet space missions designed to explore Venus. Achievements of this program:

• Venera 8 (Kosmos 482's twin) successfully landed on Venus and transmitted data for 50 minutes before succumbing to extreme heat.
• The program produced the first images from the surface of Venus.
• Venera probes were specifically engineered to resist Venus' harsh environment, with surface temperatures of approximately 462°C and atmospheric pressure 92 times that of Earth.

The Venera landers featured:

• Spherical pressure vessels approximately 1 meter in diameter.
• Heat-resistant titanium construction.
• Multiple layers of insulation
• Active cooling systems

Similar Incidents

Uncontrolled reentries of space objects have occurred throughout the history of space exploration:

• Skylab (1979): NASA's 77-ton space station made an uncontrolled reentry, with debris falling over the Indian Ocean and parts of Western Australia.
• Cosmos 1402 (1983): A Soviet nuclear-powered satellite broke up over the Atlantic Ocean.
• Phobos-Grunt (2011): Russian probe fell into the Pacific Ocean after failing to leave Earth orbit.
• Tiangong-1 (2018): China's first space station made an uncontrolled reentry over the South Pacific Ocean.

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Source: 

TIMES OF INDIA